Transportation
Portland Says Goodbye to Its Last Old-School Parking Meter
Dating from the 1930s when parking cost a nickel an hour, the city’s single-space meters are now a thing of the past.
The work started by Cool Hand Luke in the 1950s has finally concluded in Portland, Oregon, with city officials cutting off and retiring its very last single-space parking meter.
The officials used an electric saw on Thursday to behead the meter, which they then gifted to the Oregon Historical Society. “These meters have served the city well,” city commissioner Steve Novick told the Portland Bureau of Transportation. “They have been an integral part of our parking management system. But they have reached the end of their useful life, and it is time to completely transition to 21st-century parking technology, like paystations and pay by phone, which are more efficient and make it easier and more convenient for Portlanders to park.”